Catherine Costa, Pirate's Daughter
by Jelli-baby
Summary: Catherine is an orphan who is forced to live with her foster father, Norrington. She is completely and totally in love with Will Turner, but on the night before Will's marriage to Elizabeth, she kills her...it was an accident...honest!
1. At the Blacksmith's

Catherine sighed as land came in sight. The Caribbean. The last place she wanted to be. But she had unfinished business there and it had been taunting her ever since her rapid departure to live with her distant relatives in England five years before.

As the ship came into dock, she noticed a tall ship with black sails looming by the water's edge. She smiled faintly. The Black Pearl. So Jack was still haunting these waters. In fact, if she strained her eyes, she could see a figure just like him staggering towards her ship. Drunk as usual. Typical Sparrow behaviour.

She walked off the ship and he was there to meet her. "I should have known you'd come back one day," he said.

Catherine smiled, her first sincere smile for a long time. "I had to, really, didn't I?"

They walked together towards the old blacksmith's, neither of them talking but each knowing what the other was thinking.

"I take it he's still there, then?" she asked as they reached the door.

"Ever-present," Jack replied. "Are you going in or what?"

Catherine nodded, but hesitated as her hand rested on the handle. "Do you think he – I mean, so much has happened since –"

"Trust me, he never got over you," Sparrow said.

She smiled. "Remember the night of the pirate battle?"

Sparrow nodded. "How could I forget?"

She opened the door. The workshop was deserted. Trust me to come in when he's out, she thought wryly. She had prepared for this incidence, though, and drew out a note and placed it carefully on his anvil where he could not miss it.

"Oh, Will," she whispered. "I'm so sorry," and she cast her mind back to where it all began.


	2. Pirates!

Hi guys, I made such a mess of this first time round and got all the chapters mixed up so here comes the next try. Please R&R if you like it!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, dammit.

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"Pirates!"

I open my eyes and stare in horror at the dark cabin roof. Surely I'm dreaming.

"Pirates!" The cry comes again, insistent and shrill. I leap out of bed and snatch my candle-lantern from the table. As I scrabble frantically in the drawer for matches, more yells and shouts come from outside. I can smell the anxiety in the air; I can taste the tang of fear.

My hand closes over a small box of matches and I light the lamp hastily, almost burning myself. It casts eerie golden patches, mingling with the silver moonlight spilling through the square windows and creating a strange effect. I set the lamp on my dresser, pull on my dressing gown and push open my cabin door. I look up at the crow's nest.

"Pirates!" yells the scout once more.

The cabin boy knocks into me as I squint up at the inky sky. "You want to be getting below, Miss," he pants, "there's pirates abroad."

"I want –" I begin, but he has darted off again. I pick my way carefully through the throng of running crew and stand at the edge of the ship.

I stare out into the dark... I can almost convince myself I can see the faraway outline of a mast against the black clouds...

The admiral towers over me. He blocks the moonlight and I am plunged into darkness.

"Catherine," he smiles scornfully down at me. "Had a nightmare, did we?"

"Don't patronise me, Norrington," I snarl. If I step slightly to the left... I can see faint plumes of smoke, distant touches of flame, tall dark ships coming up fast.

He moves so he is blocking my view. "You should be below deck."

"I have been told," I inform him icily. "But I want to fight."

"A fight is no place for a little girl," he says. "You'd better get below deck before you get yourself hurt."

"I will not _get myself hurt_," I snap, but he has had enough of me and grabs me bodily around my waist. I kick and scream, but he ignores me and hoists me up so I am lying inelegantly over his shoulder, then flings me down the hatch to the kitchens. I try to climb back up the ladder but he slams the hatch and draws the bolts so I cannot escape.


	3. Deadly Duelling

I'm so happy you like it enough to keep reading!!!

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I pound on the hatch and scream. Nobody up on deck pays me the slightest bit of attention. I can hear roars from above – the pirates have obviously got onto our ship. Then I hear footsteps from behind.

"They've locked ye up again, Miss Catherine, I see," a voice says. I spin around, but it is only Pintel, the ship's cook. He's been on the ship for about three years now, since I was about thirteen. I can remember – vaguely – there being a lot of trouble with some cursed treasure, and Pintel was going to be hanged, along with many of his other pirate comrades, but Norrington gave him the choice of the death penalty or service to the King's Navy. Unsurprisingly, he chose service.

"Yes," I sigh in response. "I wish they'd let me fight; just once. I hate the way they just push me aside."

He regards me quietly for a while, and then says warningly, "Now, if you was to tell anyone I told you this, I'd be in big trouble, so don't, alright?"

"Yes, yes," I agree hastily.

"There's another way up to deck. Put a pair of my trousers on, tie back that hair of yours, and you can go up and fight." As he speaks, a cannon booms from on deck and the whole ship shudders.

I hesitate, then agree. I am so excited at the prospect of being in a real pirate fight that I forget even to be disgusted at wearing Pintel's trousers. I scrape back my curls and he unsheathes his sword and hands it to me. It has ominous-looking reddish stains on the blade. I try very hard not to think about them. Sometimes you forget that fighting kills people.

Pintel shows me a hidden trapdoor up to deck. I thank him in a whisper and then burst out into the midst of the combat with a fierce war cry. The noise around me is so absolute that nobody notices, but two pirates spot me and come racing towards me, blades held high, ready to slit me apart from brain to stomach. I dodge them and run.

I see an older pirate stumbling around in the middle of deck. He looks harmless enough. I leap in front of him and brandish the sword in his face. He leers drunkenly up at my face. I gag at his blatant halitosis, but wave my blade menacingly. He meets the sword with his, and the clash of steel on steel fills the immediate surroundings. I feel my heart leap. This is excitement; this is what living is!

I thrust forwards with my sword and the old man topples backwards. I cheer. I am not altogether sure whether I knocked him over or whether he has fallen into a drunken stupor. He can't be dead, as I never touched him with the sword. Still, a victory is a victory.

A roar comes from behind me. I whirl around, sword at the ready, and the blade meets another in mid-air. I parry to get a good look at my attacker. He looks about Norrington's age, maybe older, with a raggedy hat and yellowing teeth. He takes another swipe at me with the sword, but I am ready and I spin out of reach. I drive forwards with my weapon. I don't intend to do any damage, just make him step back, but he doesn't even flinch, just blocks the attack with one easy swoop of his sword.

I am surprised. I didn't expect him to be this good at sword fighting. He doesn't look as though he is. But he swings forwards with his sword and almost cuts through the skin of my neck. I take a step backwards, but he has caught me off-guard and he knows it. He comes at me again with three fast strikes, none touching me, but forcing me to stagger backwards further. I wave my sword forwards, but the blade comes nowhere near him and he ignores it. He drives me back and back until I am backed up against a wall. He grins and swoops his sword through the air so it almost slices my face. I take the opportunity and thrust at him. He steps back, surprised, and the fight gets faster, harder, merciless. One second not concentrating and I could lose my head. Literally.

Thrust, parry, thrust, swing... I have no time even to blink, the fight is getting so hard and unforgiving. I am tiring and the last few swoops of the sword were nearly fatal...and then I see something over the pirate's shoulder that almost gets me decapitated.

"Will!"


	4. Will Turner

Thanks for all the reviews! Replies in the next chapter when I finally get this sorted!

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I gaze moronically over the pirate's shoulder at Will's beautiful face, forgetting all about the fight. He sees me, and the danger I am in, and darts towards me, but is waylaid by a group of pirates and has to pause to defend himself.

The pirate swings his sword towards me and I jerk myself back to reality. I leap out of the way of the blade just before it reaches my skin. I can see, out of the corner of my eye, that Will has broken away from his attackers and is nearing me. I swing Pintel's sword at the pirate and it rips a gash in the coarse material of his shirt. I gasp. I did not mean to do any damage. I am horrified when I notice scarlet beads of blood squeezing from a long, shallow cut on the pirate's chest.

I clamp my hand to my mouth. The pirate doubles over, clutching the wound. I drop my sword in horror. I cannot believe myself – I believe I may have just done some lasting damage; yet, I haven't, and I realise my mistake when the pirate miraculously recovers from his feint of an injury and drives his blade towards my heart.

The world collapses into slow motion. Helpless, I watch the bloodstained sword coming closer and closer to killing me. I open my mouth to scream but no sound comes out. I screw my eyes shut and wait for the cold kiss of steel through my ribcage, but it doesn't come. Instead, something heavy bashes into me and knocks me to the floor; at the same time, I feel a blade rip through the thin skin of my cheek and draw blood; then the weight is removed from me; I hear a yell of pain, a thud, and then all is silent.

I open my eyes tentatively. I am lying face-to-face with the pirate that tried to kill me. He is dead. Unseeing eyes stare chillingly into the middle distance. I roll over onto my back. Another face is within very close proximity to mine, but this time the sight is wonderful.

"Will," I sigh. The world is at rights.

"Catherine! Are you all right?" Will cries. He takes my hand and lifts me up to a standing position. I gaze upwards into his handsome face. There is a long gash down one side of it.

"Now I am," I reply.

"You're hurt," he says, and runs a finger down the cut on my cheek. I close my eyes and a tingle runs down my spine. "Not much," I reply. In fact I feel no pain when I am this close to him, but I don't say that.

All of Will's concern suddenly turns to disapproval. "You could have been killed just then. What on earth are you doing in the middle of a pirate attack?"

I ignore the question. "You saved me!" I gush and grab him around the midriff. Will looks slightly startled for a moment, then hugs me back. "Don't mention it," he mumbles.

I pull away. Will looks around. "I think the fight's over," he observes.

He's right. Navy men are standing around, nursing minor wounds and grinning sheepishly in relief; pirates are lying, prone, on the floor, some dead, some unconscious; and Norrington is striding towards Will and I, looking disapproving.

"Catherine!" he booms. "I told you to stay below deck, did I not?"

"Well, I –" I begin, but Norrington ignores me and snarls at Will, "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

Will stiffens. "Pirates were ransacking your ship. We just happened to be passing. You looked as though you needed a little help."

A faint pink tinge reaches Norrington's cheeks. "We did not need any _help_." He turns to me. "I suggest you go to your quarters; it is almost half past four in the morning. And you," he glances at Will, "I suggest _you_ return to your ship." He turns and marches off.

"I shall," Will replies at Norrington's retreating back, then turns to me. "I must do as he says, Miss Costa. I will see you again when you return to Port Royale. Elizabeth and I would be delighted to see you."

It is as if he has finished the pirate's job off for him and stabbed me through my heart, mentioning _her_. "That would be wonderful," I lie.

He nods in agreement and begins to turn away. "Oh, and Will?" I add. He looks at me with his heart-melting brown eyes. "How many times must I ask you to call me Catherine?"

Will opens his mouth and looks as though he is about to say something, but thinks better of it, shaking his head. "Goodbye... Catherine," he says, then he, too, turns and leaves.

I watch him go. I do not return to my cabin. I am not tired. I stand alone on deck amongst the bodies and watch the sun rise as it tinges the azure waters with dancing ochre stripes.


	5. Jack Sparrow

The revised version...sorry

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I must have given in to the power of sleep at some point because I awake mid-morning on deck. The sky above me is bright blue. I sit up hazily and look around me. There is no trace left of last night's fight. The bodies of the pirates have probably been thrown overboard. There is nobody on deck, save me, and a cabin boy, who is scrubbing at some faint burn-marks with a threadbare brush.

A gust of fresh sea air ruffles my hair as I survey the practically deserted ship. I walk to the ship's edge and lean out.

"You want to be careful there, Miss," the boy says without lifting his eyes from his task. I ignore him. I lean out even further.

A seagull calls from high in the sky. The boy picks up his brush and bucket and retreats beneath deck. I am now completely alone. I can do whatever I like.

I hesitate, then step quickly onto the rail so I am crouching on a mere fifteen centimetres before the edge of the deck and then the sea. The wind whips at my escaped curls.

I let go of the rail with my hands and straighten up. The water beneath is so clear I can see individual fish swimming about below.

I balance on the rail and gaze down into the sea. Life carries on down there, oblivious.

I do not know how long I stand there for, but without warning my necklace slips from my neck. I make a grab for it, and catch it, but the sudden jolting movement throws my balance and I topple downwards, downwards...

It's all around me, the sea envelops me, cold, unfriendly, unwelcoming, repelling. I swirl in the water, eyes shut, heart pounding, listening to the sub-surface splashing. I twist into a downward spiral; my lungs are bursting, I'm going to drown, I'm going to drown... the sea is forever below me, deep, endless; I am going to sink into the void and I am going to die in the icy cold and I shall never be seen again.

Now a splashing above me, now arms find me, hold me tight around my waist. I feel light-headed, I feel faint, I lie limp in the strong arms that drag me upwards to the ship and the crystalline sky...

We break the surface; air stings my face; I take a great breath and my vision returns; I am hoisted up onto the ship, gasping, gasping, hating all the ogling crew watching and wondering. I am dropped unceremoniously onto the deck where I lie, soggy, forlorn.

For the second time in a day I lie and look up at the sky, then something blocks my view. It is the face of a pirate.

His hair is long and beaded and covered with a red bandanna. He has several gold teeth. He grins. The teeth glint in the morning sun. "Hello," he says.

I sit up so fast I almost knock heads with him. "Pirate!" I scream, but someone pushes me back down to lie on deck. It is Norrington.

"Norrington! A pirate!" I gasp, struggling to move, but he holds me down.

"Calm yourself, Catherine." He turns to the pirate. "She is delirious."

"I am not delirious!" I snap.

"This man is not a pirate. He is a member of our crew," Norrington informs me languidly. "He fought on the Navy's side in last night's attacks, and he saved your life just now. He agrees to give up his life of piracy for a career in the King's Navy." The pirate nods proudly behind Norrington's shoulder.

"Catherine, I would advise that you go and change your clothes directly," Norrington continues. "The rest of you, set sail for Port Royale." He gets up and strides off.

I pick myself up off the floor and get changed in my cabin. When I open the door I find the pirate standing outside, waiting with a breakfast tray, which he hands to me. I look down at it in disgust.

"Made it myself," he says proudly.

"I could tell," I say. "Now please go down to the kitchens and get my real breakfast from Pintel."

He looks so surprised that he forgets to be offended. "There's a Pintel on this ship? Well, well, well..." he muses, "but, then again, it's probably not the same one. Where's he from?"

I wave a hand in the air vaguely. "Oh... I forget. Norrington's been picking up pirates for years now. I reckon he's had a soft spot for them ever since he let that Sparrow get away."

The pirate's expression changes momentarily. "Oh, yeah? Great getaway, I hear. One of the best chases in the history of piracy."

"Well, the way I hear it told, he fell backwards off the cliff wall and was lucky not to hit the rocks," I reply, shutting my cabin door behind me.

"I did not!" he snaps.

I turn around and face him curiously. "You're Jack Sparrow?"

He nods. "Heard of me, I expect."

"Of course I have. Will never stops talking about your little adventure."

"Will? Will Turner?" Sparrow asks quickly.

"Yes... why? Do you know him?" I ask.

Sparrow's face sours. "I did." He looks so disgusted that I decide not to press the matter, but he elaborates without having to be asked. "Stupid kid could have come on my ship, I would have got him his own, made him the captain... but he had to go running off and get married to his girlfriend."

My heart misses a beat.

I struggle to regain my composure. "Will's married? To Elizabeth?" I stammer idiotically.

Sparrow seems not to have noticed that my heart has been stamped on. "Well..." he continues, "he was going to be. But her father decided he was going to make them wait for three years, till Elizabeth turned nineteen... her birthday was a few weeks ago now, I think the ceremony's in a few days."

I feel dizzy. Will, getting married in a matter of days, and not telling me? Why, I have known him ever since I can remember, and he does not even tell me that he is getting married?

"Are you all right?" Sparrow inquires.

"I am perfectly fine," I snap.

"Sure you don't want me to go and get the captain?" he asks, mock-concernedly.

"I am sure." I take a cautious sip from the drink he has brought me on the breakfast-tray. Nothing happens.

"I reckon he fancies you," Sparrow guffaws moronically.

I choke on my mouthful of unidentifiable liquid. "Please, Mr Sparrow, do spare me. That is _disgusting_."

Sparrow seems to realise his mistake. "Oh... I see, is he a relation?" There is a stagnant pause. "He's not your _father_, is he?" he asks, half-horrified.

I laugh. "No, but he is my foster father."

"You're an orphan?"

"Yes, because of him. My parents were pirates. Norrington had them hanged."

"I've always thought that punishment was harsh," Sparrow nods sympathetically. "Don't you hate him?"

"Yes," I agree. "I hate every particle of his being, and he mine. It's not so bad if the feeling's mutual."

"Then why does he take you on his voyages? It's said it's bad luck to have a woman on board."

"He has no choice. He's my legal guardian, and so long as I am under sixteen and there are no living relatives he can dump me on, I have to stay with him, and he takes me wherever he goes. It's such a drag, but I'm sixteen in just a few weeks, and then I'll be free!" I explain.

Sparrow still looks confused. "But why in the name of rum did Norrington adopt you if he hates you so much?"

I pause. "I really don't know," I muse. "I've never really thought about it before. Maybe he thought it would look good, make him look like a nice guy."

"Maybe he did it to attract some women," Sparrow suggests, and laughs abruptly.

"Yes, because God knows no woman would be attracted to him naturally." I laugh, but Sparrow doesn't. "I mean, remember poor Elizabeth? He proposed to her! Poor girl! I'd have chosen a handsome blacksmith over an ugly old commodore any day." I stop when I realise Sparrow's eyes are glazed and he is staring at a spot just above my shoulder.

I feel as though someone has placed a large lead weight in my stomach. I turn around very slowly. Norrington is standing directly behind me. He has a strange expression on his face, somewhere between acute embarrassment and triumphant discovery. His pale cheeks are slightly flushed, but he is wearing an odd smile, which he turns to me, and widens slowly.

At precisely this moment I would give my weight in gold to sink through the floor and never be seen again.

"So," Norrington begins venomously. I close my eyes and wait for the kill.

"So," he repeats. "You would choose a _handsome blacksmith_ over me any day?" I feel my cheeks begin to burn. I try to walk away, but his hand comes down with an iron clamp on my shoulder with surprising speed.

"Well?" he demands. I say nothing. "ANSWER ME, CATHERINE!_" _he roars with a crazed look in his eye. I begin to wish I had never mentioned Elizabeth – always his sore point, where his pride was bruised when Elizabeth chose to marry Will over him.

I nod slowly.

"Should I inform Mr Turner of your ardour?" Norrington suggests evilly.

"No," I reply, a shade too quickly. Norrington's grin widens.

"Oh, but why not?" he asks. "I'm sure he would want to know – of course, I shall have to inform Miss Swann and her father also."

"No," I say, urgently.

He ignores me. "I think I shall," he says, letting go of my shoulder. "I think I –"

BOOM.

I spin around. Sparrow is nowhere to be seen, but a cannon has just exploded from below. There is no sight of an enemy vessel – what is going on?

Distracted, thankfully, Norrington mutters something to himself and hurries down below deck. I sink to my knees and am wishing to drown in my own embarrassment, when I hear someone rushing up behind me.

"Did it work?" Sparrow's voice says.

"Did what work?" I mutter indistinctly.

"The cannon; I set it off to distract Norrington. Did it work?"

I look up at the pirate gratefully. "Yes, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"It was nothing," he replies. "Always ready to cause some trouble when it's needed." He begins to walk away.

Something occurs to me. "Mr Sparrow?"

"Yes?"

"I do believe we have some stock of rum in the stronghold, if you would be interested - as a token of my appreciation," I smile.

Sparrow grins. "You are kind." I turn to fetch it. "And Miss Costa?"

"Yes?"

"Just a question; just out of interest, you understand."

"Yes?"

"_Do_ you like Will?"

My cheeks turn crimson. "Well, I –" I stammer. "I – I –"

He rolls his eyes, and disappears down the hatch. "OK, OK, forget I asked."


	6. Elizabeth Swann

Aloha faithful readers!

Review replies:

Westbabe: Sorry I missed you out before. Thanks for the review! Catherine is a great character to write. Watch this space.

Arein: Oh yeah. She likes him. A lot. Just you wait for this chap... heh heh. Oh wait, you don't have to, it's right here. Thanks for the continued support!

Carn: Thanks. I love it too. Obv. Yes, that dratted Jack will be in it more. Well, you know that as you've already read.

Julian: No way, no way, no way was ANYTHING your fault. Never never never think that. And that is an order. Your review made my day. Love Erin x

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We arrive at Port Royale at dusk the next day. The silences between Norrington and I since our conflict are palpable and painful. He has not said two words to me, save from explaining that Sparrow and I will stay with Will and Elizabeth while he and his crew sail off somewhere to terrorise some pirates. 

The sun is just sinking beneath the cloudy horizon when the three of us get off the ship along with an armed guard. The air is heavy; there will be a thunderstorm later. The streets are quiet. The stamping of the guards' boots does nothing to fill the silence; only outlines it, defines it. I become aware of a muffled sense that something is wrong; something bad is going to happen.

We arrive at the Governor's mansion, and a guard, spotting Norrington, bows us through the wrought-iron gates. Norrington marches up the drive and bashes the door brusquely. The butler opens the door as I arrive behind Norrington, and a vision in a white wedding dress rushes out, barges past Norrington and almost knocks me over as it hugs me.

"Hello, Elizabeth," I wheeze, wishing she would let me go.

"Oh, Catherine, isn't it _wonderful_? The ceremony's tomorrow, and of course you're invited, in fact, you shall be my bridesmaid; yes, that would be delightful!" she gabbles. "Oh, isn't this dress a beauty? Father got it for me from London. You can wear one of my gowns; I hardly think that old thing would do for a wedding." She indicates the dress I am wearing.

"Thank you," I say, offended, as Elizabeth releases me and pulls the baffled Sparrow into a hug. "You can be Will's best man, Jack, he's been talking about trying to contact you; we thought it was too late, but you're here now; I must tell Will!" Elizabeth pauses momentarily, partly to draw breath, and partly so her brain can catch up with her mouth. "Oh, no, heavens, I can't; I can't see him before the ceremony; Jack, you shall have to tell him."

"Er... OK," Jack agrees. "I'll, er, I'll stay with him tonight, then, shall I?"

"Yes, if you like," Elizabeth waves her hand carelessly. "He's staying at the old blacksmith's for tonight."

"OK." Sparrow half-waves to me, and retreats out of the manor grounds.

Elizabeth turns to Norrington, all set to hug him too, and then, seemingly, remembers who he is.

"Oh... hello, Admiral. Will you come in?"

"No, thank you," he replies curtly. "Catherine will be staying with you for a while; I must undertake a long voyage."

"Certainly," Elizabeth nods. "How long will you be gone?"

"Around six months."

Six months! I think. He's leaving me with Elizabeth for six months! I look at Norrington in horror, but he refuses to meet my eye.

"Do have a safe voyage," Elizabeth says. "Good evening."

"Good evening, Miss Swann," Norrington nods, and leaves, the footsteps of his guard marked against the dead of the surroundings. Norrington and the guards vanish from sight, along with the last glimmerings of sun, and leave me alone in the dark with my worst nightmare.

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Hope you liked! R&R if you are nice!! 


	7. At Midnight

To my lovely reviewers: Thanks you guys! You rock! Sorry there aren't any special mentions this chapter, I am in kind of a hurry. But thank you all and hope you like this chapter. God it was fun to write... ugh, Elizabeth Swann annoys me...!

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The very minute Norrington disappears from view, Elizabeth seizes me by the arm and drags me up the grand staircase to a large bedchamber.

"You shall sleep here," she announces. "My room is next door. Yours is smaller than mine, but I expect you're used to small rooms; after all, your cabin on the _Interceptor_ is hardly as big as our broom cupboard, is it?"

I stare, open-mouthed, at her blatant rudeness, but she either does not notice or does not care. She is bustling around her room, collecting various beautifying implements and hair-brushes, then she makes me sit down at her dressing-table.

"I shall style your hair," she says proudly, and begins tugging at my curls with one of the brushes. "Honestly, your hair is _so _thick, Catherine," she complains. "I don't know how you can stand it. And such a colour! Red hair should be outlawed. If I were you, I'd have cut it all off by now."

"I like my hair," I say, and fail to stop myself from sounding like a sulky toddler.

"Well, I'll show you some different styles, and you can decide how you want it for tomorrow's ceremony," Elizabeth says. I want to shout at her. What I _want_ to say is: I don't want my hair styled, especially not by you! I don't even want to go to this stupid ceremony, because it will break my heart to see Will married! All I want is to be left alone! I want to take a ship and sail it off to some faraway country where nobody knows my name, and nobody shouts at me, and NOBODY STYLES MY HAIR WHEN I DON'T WANT THEM TO!

However, my mouth has other ideas, and all that comes out is, "If you like."

Elizabeth struggles with my hair for several hours, tugging it into a pony-tail or scraping sections back, but nothing seems to please her, and she admits defeat at around half past eleven, at around which time her father comes in to check on her.

"Ah, hello, Catherine," he says on seeing me. "Norrington did mention that you might stay for a while. How long was it this time?" but he sounds more interested that exasperated, like any normal adult would be when their friend's foster daughter is constantly dumped on them for long periods of time.

"Six months, Father," Elizabeth butts in, before I even have a chance to open my mouth.

"Well, well," he chuckles, "that is a long time. Where's your old father off to now, then?"

"How should I know?" I snap with surprising venom. "And he is not my _father_."

Both Elizabeth and her father look suitably taken aback. I am breathing hard for some reason. I can't look either of them in the eye. I came very close there to revealing my real hatred for them both, something I had vowed never to do.

"Sorry," I apologise. "I am tired."

"Well, of course," the governor agrees. "I'll let you girls get off to bed, then." He retreats from the room.

"Don't you hate the fact," Elizabeth purrs suddenly, "that your foster father is the man that had your parents hanged? Don't you hate him?"

Of course I do, but I am not about to admit that to _her_. "It's alright, actually," I reply, defending Norrington for some reason.

She looks surprised. She gets up from the bed and throws a bucket of water on the fire, so the embers glow and the only light in the room comes from candles. She picks up one of these candles and holds it close beneath her chin, so eerie shadows are cast on her face and neck. Thunder booms from outside.

"Do you believe in superstition, Catherine?" she asks.

"No," I lie. I am possibly the most superstitious person ever to walk the earth. You name an old wives' tale, I know it off by heart.

She ignores me. "When the clock chimes midnight, we shall look into the mirror and we shall see our futures."

I say nothing. Looking into a mirror by candlelight is very bad luck.

Elizabeth walks to her grandfather clock and peers at it. "Three minutes to go," she announces. "I shall go first. I shall foretell your fortune."

She sits at her dresser, so still I could swear that time has frozen. I feel slightly shaky about this. I have always been told that midnight is the time when evil spirits fly into the body and cause the person to do things they would not normally do. I do not want to bear witness to Elizabeth flying into a frenzy and tearing the room apart, but I don't know what to say to deter her, so I sit on the bed and do nothing. Lightning flashes from outside. I hear banging on the door downstairs.

Midnight comes, and the clock chimes. A strange chill runs through my body. Elizabeth holds up the candle and looks gravely into the mirror.

"I am seeing..." she whispers. "I am seeing, Catherine! I can see you in twenty years' time, perhaps thirty... you are old, and haggard looking..."

I tense with anger. I see the corners of Elizabeth's lips turn upwards into a smile. She is not seeing my future – she is making this up as she goes along! Outside Elizabeth's door, I hear men shouting and roaring...but that could just be my imagination...

"I see you watching Will and I... we are still happily married... but you are not. You are a spinster, Catherine; you are jealous of me! And you will never marry; I can see it here!"

"You lying little witch!" I shriek suddenly. She laughs outright. She knows exactly what she is doing.

"Always alone, poor Catherine... no man will ever love you..."

The clock chimes its last stroke and I scream. I convince myself I can feel evil spirits rushing through my body, persuading me to do what I want to do. No... I must stop myself...

A colossal roar of thunder issues from the sky and a blinding flash of lightning floods the room. I am gone; I rise from the bed and snatch a sword from the crest over the mantelpiece, then advance on Elizabeth. She screams and drops the candle. It lands on the rug and starts smouldering. I raise the sword to cut her from head to toe, but she ducks out of the way and runs out onto her balcony, shrieking.

I follow, intent on killing her – this girl who has tormented and teased me since the day we met, always boasting and showing off, always putting me down – I hate her, I hate her!

The rain is coming down in sheets. The floor of the balcony is wet and slippery. She is cowering, trembling with fear and cold. I advance on her and she stumbles backwards. She clambers onto the rail of the balcony and attempts to leap to the roof for safety.

I see what is going to happen before she does... she jumps for the roof, but her foot slides on the dripping metal and she slips... she falls, screaming a blood-chilling scream... she tumbles in her white wedding dress and falls from the balcony, plummeting down to the bushes below.

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Ooh. Cliffie.

You know what to do... press that little purple button...


	8. A Pirate Raid

Hi people! Thanks for the reviews!!

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_Last time on Catherine Costa, Pirate's Daughter..._

_A colossal roar of thunder issues from the sky and a blinding flash of lightning floods the room. I am gone; I rise from the bed and snatch a sword from the crest over the mantelpiece, then advance on Elizabeth. She screams and drops the candle. It lands on the rug and starts smouldering. I raise the sword to cut her from head to toe, but she ducks out of the way and runs out onto her balcony, shrieking. _

_I follow, intent on killing her – this girl who has tormented and teased me since the day we met, always boasting and showing off, always putting me down – I hate her, I hate her!_

_The rain is coming down in sheets. The floor of the balcony is wet and slippery. She is cowering, trembling with fear and cold. I advance on her and she stumbles backwards. She clambers onto the rail of the balcony and attempts to leap to the roof for safety. _

_I see what is going to happen before she does… she jumps for the roof, but her foot slides on the dripping metal and she slips… she falls, screaming a blood-chilling scream… she tumbles in her white wedding dress and falls from the balcony, plummeting down to the bushes below.

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_

"Elizabeth!" I scream. I look down from the balcony, but everything is dark and I cannot see her. I drop the sword and flee from her room.

As I skid onto the staircase landing, I can see coarse-looking men running around, roaring and shouting and pilfering. A pirate raid! I pelt down the stairs, through the pandemonium. Servants are running around, screaming. Pirates are killing them off like flies. I see the Governor emerge from his study. He opens his mouth in horror at the scene, but before he has a chance to do or say anything, a passing pirate shoots a pistol right at his head. Bang. Gone. Just like that. Dead.

I scream in terror, and a pirate spots me. I see a sword lying on the floor, and am about to pick it up and slice this pirate from head to toe when I remember Elizabeth. I sprint past the pirate and out through the splintered front doors.

I run round to the bushes that lie beneath Elizabeth's bedroom, screaming her name. I spot a sliver of white in the midst of the black surroundings. I speed towards it.

It's Elizabeth's body. I kneel down beside her and roll her over onto her back. Her eyes are closed. A trickle of blood runs down the side of her face. I feel myself crying as I look at that face, so pretty, so beautiful, so spiteful and nasty.

I don't have to check her breathing or her pulse. I know she's dead. Without doubt. I know.

The thunder and lightning have stopped now. It's just the rain now, crying along with me. I curl up into a ball beside her dead body and I sob. Strange. A minute ago I was trying to kill her, now I am mourning her death.

I hear some pirates advancing around the side of the house but I make no move to run away. I sit still, hugging my knees up to my chest, as they see me and walk drunkenly over.

"'Ello there, miss," one of them leers at me.

I retort by screaming the worst words I know at the top of my voice. The pirates look surprised, and back off slightly. Then one of them spots Elizabeth, and nudges the other.

"Ain't that 'is daughter?" he says.

"Yeah," the other responds. "Sleepin' like a baby. Cap'n'll be pleased with 'er!"

They bend down and lift her off the floor, obviously unaware she is dead. One slings her corpse over his shoulder and they walk away. I watch them go.

Why don't I stop them?

I hate her. That's why.

I sit in the rain for a while. I've stopped crying. I just sit in complete silence with my eyes closed. I must have fallen asleep at some point, though it doesn't feel that way, because I open my eyes and the sun is rising. The rain has gone; its only trace is some dew on the grass.

I stand up and look at the Governor's mansion. Windows have been smashed; shards of glass litter the ground beneath; the window of Elizabeth's room is smoke-blackened... of course... the candle must have set the room on fire.

I enter the house. Bodies of servants lie prone all over the floor. There is a strange hush all through the house; the hush of death. As I think this, the gargantuan house suddenly feels too small, suffocating. I walk outside again and lie flat on the floor, staring up at the huge blue sky. It's as though whatever happens, you can always just look up and the sky will still be there. The sky doesn't fall; it's the people below it who do.

I don't know how long I lie there for, choked up, close to tears, but after some time I hear running footsteps up the gravel drive and two male voices. I know them. I know one of them especially. I'd recognise it anywhere.

_Will._

Oh, God, Will! The wedding! What the hell am I going to do? I've killed his fiancée!

"Catherine!" Will sees me and runs over. He raises me to a sitting position, and tears are already spilling from my eyes. How am I going to tell Will that Elizabeth is dead; and, worse, that it is my fault?

The other speaker is Sparrow; he kneels behind Will, looking concerned.

"Catherine, are you all right?" Will asks, so nicely that I burst into a fresh wave of tears.

Sparrow mutters something to Will, who nods his head fervently. Sparrow makes for the house, but gets only as far as the open doors before returning to Will and shaking his head gravely.

"We heard of the attacks last night, but we were not sure whether the rumours were true," Will explains. "Are many of the servants dead?"

I nod my head, sobbing too hard to speak.

"Is the Governor –"

I shake my head. "He's dead," I choke out.

"Well, it's a mercy that you and Elizabeth are spared," Will sighs, absent-mindedly wiping away one of the teardrops from my cheek.

The silence that follows is the worst in my entire life. I look up into his face and into his eyes and I see his brow furrow with concern; then he asks, "Aren't you?"

I could tell him now. But my cheek is tingling with his touch... I could always tell him later... No. I must tell him now!

I am racked with a fresh wave of sobs. "Elizabeth – Elizabeth –"

"She's dead?" Sparrow asks, aghast.

I try to nod, but I can't move to tell them she is. I realise later that it seems as though I am denying it; I am giving Will false hope. "The pirates – the pirates..."

"They've taken her?" Will gasps.

I nod. It does not cross my mind once that he still believes she is alive, although of course that's exactly how it looks for him.

Will gets up, ashen-faced. "We must save her!"

And I realise, and I know I should tell him. I should tell him now before he gets his hopes up. But I don't. I can still feel a tingle on my cheek where he brushed away that tear, and I don't tell him. I stand there and watch his face, all troubled and heroic, and I let him and Sparrow take me away from the mansion and down to the docks on a mission to retrieve what is lost forever.

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So, did you like? REVIEW!!!


	9. Norrington's Mistake

Merci beaucoupsy for all ze reviewsies!

Arein: Yes, poor, poor, Will. But poor Catherine too... well, not in this chapter. Maybe it'll be more obvious in the next few... wow, I'm soo mysterious!

American Drama: Thanks! I love it too, but that's big headed of me because I wrote it. Oh well. I totally love the end of this chapter... girl power!! (Sorry, that was totally Spice Girls there)

Carn: You're back! Don't you dare give anything away, there are reviewers who don't know what will happen!!! Seriously though, read back your review for chapter 7 and you tell me whether you sound drunk or no. Go on, I dare you. Also SIGN IN FOR YOUR REVIEWS DAMMIT! Sorry, mini rant. OK ANYWAY I so love this chapter. Yay!

OK on with the story...

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The day that dawned bright and sunny is beginning to cloud over, as though disapproving of our mission, as we make our way through the market. I had thought Norrington had already left, so I am surprised to see him in the square, poring over a large map, guarded by various Navy men in scarlet uniforms. I recognise a couple. They wave, vaguely, but I do not wave back; I am still hiccoughing with tears and not in a waving mood.

Sparrow and Will lead the way past Norrington without even glancing his way, but he sees us and calls out to me.

"Where do you think you're going, Catherine? I asked you to stay at the Governor's mansion."

I may be crying and incapable of coherent speech, but I can make an exception for Norrington, my heart's bane.

"The Governor's dead," I snap.

"And these tears are for him, I suppose?" Norrington asks scathingly, indicating my red eyes and stained face. "How very sweet."

I blush. Passers-by stop to watch the exchange. Will and Sparrow have realised I am not following, and have come back to see where I have got to. Norrington spots them. He probably wouldn't trust them as far as he could throw them, especially after the whole incident with the cursed treasure when they stole his ship. It makes me wonder why he let Sparrow on his ship after the pirate attacks a couple of days ago.

"Mr Turner. Why are you hijacking Miss Costa from Miss Swann?" he asks. "Perhaps she has told you of how she would prefer a _handsome black_ –"

"Admiral!" I interrupt hastily. He turns to face me, eyebrows raised. I can see Will out of the corner of my eye, still waiting for the rest of the sentence. I promise myself never to let him find it out.

"Yes?" Norrington asks sweetly. I do not answer. Sparrow obviously tastes the danger in this situation and steps in to rescue me.

"Miss Swann has been kidnapped by pirates," he informs Norrington.

"What, again?" Norrington laughs carelessly. "You really must learn to take better care of her, Mr Turner."

Will darkens, and begins to advance on Norrington, but I stand in his way. I do not want Will to get thrown into jail, or, worse, hanged.

"Is there something you want to say, Miss Catherine?" Norrington says to me.

"Yes," I answer. "Shut up."

I hear a gasp from the assembled crows around me. I take no notice. Norrington colours slightly, and looks around at the audience, chuckling loudly and forcedly, then shoots me a deathly look. "What did you say to me, Miss Catherine?" he asks, mock-amusedly.

"I told you to shut up," I reply coolly. His eyes narrow and he says, "Do not ever speak to me like that again."

"Why?" I snap. "You're not my father; you don't even try to act like one. You hate me. Admit it, you do. You hate me and you hated my parents; that's why you killed them –" there is another gasp from the crowd – "and I bet you want to do the same for me."

The peasants around me start murmuring excitedly. I see Sparrow shoot Will a look out of the corner of my eye.

There is a strange light in Norrington's eyes. "You must be mistaken," he says quietly. "Your parents were hanged because they committed crimes against humanity. They stole, pilfered, plundered, and they murdered."

"As did you, by sentencing them to death!" I shout. Tears are streaming down my face again. Norrington sighs heavily and orders, "Guards, take Miss Catherine away. Perhaps a day in the stocks will calm her."

I see Will's hand move to his sword, but before anyone else can move, I reach forward and punch Norrington in the mouth.

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GO CATHERINE!!!!!!!!! I LOVE that bit. GOD that chapter was fun to write. Hope it was fun to read too... REVIEW AND TELL ME! I love praise... can't wait for the next chapter. I love that one too. 


	10. The Escape from Port Royale

Hey guys! Thank you for all the lovely reviews... you guys rock!

**Carn: **I know you're in London at the mo and can't read this yet, but... well. Poor old Norrity, he really does get the brunt of things doesn't he? Still, there's worse to come... but I won't give anything away...

**rose-eye-blonde91: _How_ **much fun was it to write the punch??? I could do it again...and again... and again... but I mustn't! Don't be too hard on him though... the poor thing gets some more strife later on....

**genevieve: **Yes, that was kind of an 'omigod' moment...

**ilfirin912: **Thanks! I love the beginning of this chap as well. Evil Norrity. But he's not really evil...just mean and twisted... watch this space!

**Arein: **Hi! OK tell ya what, _you _give _me _a nice review and _I'll _email _you _the chapter with your name in it, so you can punch him for real... savvy?

On with the story...

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Norrington yells in pain and stumbles backward, clutching his mouth, into the crowd, obviously having been unaware that I can hit as hard as I just have. The guards look at one another and dart towards me, but Sparrow and Will are already in front of me, swords drawn, and fend them off. I begin to run towards the docks. Will and Sparrow follow me.

I turn around and see hordes of guards sprinting after us, interspersed with peasants unwilling to miss this dramatic event, but I am not looking where I am going and I trip on a water bucket lying in the road. Before I can even move, Will and Sparrow have each grabbed one of my arms and are dragging me unceremoniously through the streets.

"Let me down!" I scream, but they take no notice and don't stop until we reach the docks. Sparrow yells something unintelligible and points at a ship docked near to us, but I scream in dissent – stealing Norrington's favourite boat would be a major mistake. Will hoists me onto another, older, ship, a black one I've never seen before, and he leaves me there, lying on deck, as he and Jack race around, untying ropes and letting loose the huge white sails for launch.

I pick myself up off the deck and peer over at dry land. The Navy guards are just rounding the corner towards us now; I spot Norrington, who, I am pleased to see, is bleeding fairly heavily from the mouth; yet he has recovered well enough to steal someone's horse for pursuit, bellowing at his guards and waving his ceremonial sword around in the air. The guards charge towards us. I shriek for Will, who comes running, sword in hand. The guards are just mounting the ramp to get on deck, Norrington in the lead, when Sparrow appears out of nowhere with an axe. At the exact same moment as Norrington tries to get on board ship, Sparrow hacks at the ramp with the axe; the ship pulls away from deck with surprising speed; the ramp splinters, and Norrington, the horse and several red-clad guards fall into the water with an almighty splash.

I cheer heartily and wave at the floundering men. Norrington howls something after me, raising his fist, but loses his balance, and abruptly sinks beneath water level. I laugh so hard I am in danger of falling over; then I realise someone is behind me. I turn around, still laughing softly, to see Will smiling down at me.

"Best escape we've ever made," he says, grinning distantly.

I nod in agreement, perhaps a little too feverishly. I wish my body would stay under control when in the presence of Will. "Thank God he didn't catch us; the last thing we need right now is someone being put in the stocks," I gabble, but Will seems not to be listening; he is staring restlessly out to the enveloping mist over the grey sea. I can make a guess what his mind is on, and my stomach contracts with guilt.

"We'll find her," I say, while actually hoping the exact converse. Will turns to me, and smiles again, but it seems as though he's not really smiling for me, he's smiling out of politeness. "Yes," he agrees, and I see just how much he believes we will; just how much I've built his hopes up; what he's going to feel when he finds she is dead; what he's going to say to me when he finds out I've been lying all along.

I open my mouth to tell him what really happened, but Sparrow's voice interrupts from the other side of the ship. "Hey, lover boy, come here a second." Will glances at me, and walks away, leaving me gazing into the murky gloom. It's too deadening, too huge and void; just as shadowy and grey as my future; when I try to look ahead, all I get is grey, grey, dreary, dull colours interspersing in my imagination.

I can't take the feeling; I retreat below deck to look around. Whoever owns the ship is a serious alcoholic. The hold is stocked with barrels upon barrels of rum, wine, beer and whisky. I find some rusty keys hanging on a hook, lock the door, and decide to keep the keys for bribery purposes whenever I need a favour from Jack.

The ship's kitchen is a small room with a fireplace, a large cooking pot, and several cupboards. There is a cabin with several bunk beds, and another large hold, full of gunpowder this time. I come back up onto deck. Will and Sparrow are nowhere to be seen, but I spot another hatch and climb down it. An elaborate mahogany door, covered in spirals and twists, stands before me. It has no handle, but a huge, ornate keyhole. I select a key and try it in the lock, but it does not fit. I try another, and another, until I have gone through them all, but none of them fit the door. I kick the door in frustration. I really want to see what is behind it.

The door, however, has other ideas, and, no matter how hard I hit it, refuses to open. I give in, and climb back up to deck. The mist from before has thickened now and obscures vision. I can barely see the other end of the ship. I call for Will, to get him to come and try to open the door, but there is no answer. I shout again, louder this time. Silence. I try yelling Sparrow's name, but he doesn't answer either.

I climb up to the stern. Will and Sparrow are both standing, staring out to sea. "There you are," I say, and march over to them, keys brandished, mouth open to tell them about the mysterious door, but their eyes are glazed and they just continue staring outwards, seemingly horrified.

I turn my face to where they are looking and my mouth drops slowly open into a scream.

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Ooh, major cliffie... and just a minor warning, the next chapter might be an eensy bit gorey. OK, it WILL be LOTS gorey. But anyway, even if you do puke all over your computer screen I want you to review... savvy?

Luv ya, JB x


	11. The Spear Ship

Please don't kill me.... I was re reading yesterday and discovered I'd missed out one of the earlier chapters, chapter 5.... so some of you might have noticed that Jack Sparrow just randomly appears out of nowhere.... I have reposted chap.5 now. It's not a very important chapter, but if you would like to read Jack's rightful entrance, by all means go back and read it, PLEASE. I'm really sorry about that... it won't happen again, I swear!

And before we start, just a thank you to all the reviewers, and a quick note to a couple:

**rose-eye-blonde91: **Thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter!

**Alexi: **Thanks for the review! Catherine is a great character to write.

**candy depp sumpter: **Thanks, and sorry about Elizabeth... I just needed a bitch character and the story doesn't really work without her. So sorry goes out to all those Lizzie fans (anyone??) Nah, just joking.

And unless you don't have an account, please don't review anonymously, I like going to people's bios to check them out! Even if you give me a bad review, I won't flame you back, I swear. I'm just curious!

So on we go... and last time on Catherine Costa, Pirate's Daugher...

_I climb up to the stern. Will and Sparrow are both standing, staring out to sea. "There you are," I say, and march over to them, keys brandished, mouth open to tell them about the mysterious door, but their eyes are glazed and they just continue staring outwards, seemingly horrified._

_I turn my face to where they are looking and my mouth drops slowly open into a scream._

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I try to scream, but my mouth is so dry nothing will come out. Sparrow swears audibly, and Will looks more scared than I've ever seen him before, but none of us seem to be able to move a muscle, just keep staring out into the ocean and the mist at the horrible sight before us.

A huge black ship is gliding slowly past us, close enough to touch, torn black sails flapping eerily without wind, and several huge black spears protrude from the side of the ship. Not such a horrifying sight until you consider the bodies impaled on the spears, heads lolling, eyes rolling, blood oozing, limbs drooping, faces blank and staring. The ship is so close that some of the bodies drag along the rail on the edge of our boat.

I feel like I am about to be sick, but the feeling increases a hundredfold when a nastily familiar body appears.

The Governor's.

The three of us watch in utter revulsion and shock as the corpse drags against the deck. There is a huge, bloody wound in the centre of his forehead, obviously caused by the pistol. One of the eyes is bulging from the socket and the other is seeping pus and blood. Gashes and cuts, all of which are deep and expose parts of the body that were never meant to see daylight, cover his corpse. The body reaches the end of the ship and the spear drags it off deck again. It hangs in midair like some grotesque puppet as the ship slides away into the gloom and disappears.

A grim silence follows. None of us are looking at each other; we don't want to think about what we've just seen; if we pretend we don't know about it, we can pretend it never happened. Sparrow mutters something and leaves. I feel dizzy with nausea. I walk to the barrier of the ship, the world swimming in front of my eyes, and lean over slightly. All the blood rushes to my head and my vision blurs. I totter and grab the rail for support, but my hand touches on something a little wet. I inspect my hand carefully, half-afraid of what I will find, and scream, staggering backwards away from the rail. In all my dizziness I forgot that corpses had just brushed the rail, and managed to soak my hand in blood.

"Catherine!" Will cries in alarm as I stumble and fall to the floor, clutching the wrist of my other hand, holding it away from my face, near to crying with revolt. He kneels beside me. "What is the matter?"

I can't bring myself to say the words; I just hold up my shaking hand. Will shudders slightly but doesn't back off. He gently helps me to my feet and leads me to the washroom where he helps me sluice my hand until it looks clean, but I can still feel the sticky clamminess of the blood all over it. I don't realise I am breathing hard and shaking until Will grabs me by the shoulders and attempts to calm me down.

But for once in my life I hate the feel of his hands on me. I can't get the image of all the dead corpses out of my mind, and any living hand anywhere in my vicinity feels as clammy and rotten as a dead one. I back away and leave, still shaken. Will doesn't follow.

I wander, unseeing, around the ship, lost in my thoughts. I stand at the helm and look out to sea and think. What would happen if we found Elizabeth and the pirates had done the same to her? I don't ever want to see anything like that ever again, and I would pay any price if it meant I didn't have to see that awful horrified look on Will's face again. If I told Will the truth now...? But he'd ask why I had not told him before, and we've come this far already...

Sparrow appears at the helm and breaks into my thoughts. "He really believes we'll find her, you know," he says, almost as if he has tapped right into my head and spilt out the contents of my brain.

"I know," I answer cautiously, watching his face, but he turns away and stares out into the mist.

"But I'm not so sure," he continues. "We saw what – what – you know, the Gov –"

"I know."

"And it's not often anyone is rescued from pirates alive," he adds. "I mean, he was lucky the first time, really, but... well, I doubt we're ever going to see her alive again."

There is a silence.

"Don't tell him I said that, though," Sparrow hastens to add.

"I won't," I sigh, and walk away. I don't want to be around anyone at the minute. It's probably only about one o'clock in the afternoon, but it's so gloomy and misty it could be midnight. I want to sleep, but all the bunk beds are in one room, and there is no way I am sleeping in the same room as Sparrow or even Will tonight after what just happened. I need space, somewhere where nobody will find me. I climb to the crow's nest, curl up in a ball, and shut my eyes.

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Eew. Gruesome. Review please... or you will meet the same fate... 


	12. The Candle Room

Hey, everyone, thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chap!

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When I wake up I am cold, shivering and wet. My ploy to let nobody find me has worked a little too well and nobody came to take me somewhere warmer. The gloom has darkened now and I can sense it is the middle of the night, probably an hour or two before dawn. The mist has cleared considerably and I can see quite far now, especially from my crow's-nest viewing point. The wind whistles around me and a cloud slides serenely over the ice-cold moon.

Looking at the moon reminds me of all the stories Will, Elizabeth and Norrington have told me about the curse of the Black Pearl a few years ago. Normally they don't scare me, but right at that moment, standing exposed in the night in front of a moon as clear as glass, with the wind making my neck tingle like someone breathing on me from behind, I feel scared. I hear a creak behind me and I scream and spin around, but it is only the mast moving in the wind. Nevertheless, I decide to go underneath deck where I feel safer.

I descend from the ladder as fast as I can and open the hatch. I climb down the ladder that leads into the cabin. Muffled breathing comes from two of the bunk beds and I can see the vague shapes of Sparrow and Will in deep sleeps. I don't want to disturb them. I move on.

I feel slightly groggy and want to splash my face with ice-cold water to wake myself up. I turn towards the washroom, but it is dark below the ship and I must take a wrong turning, because I find myself at a door I've never seen before. It isn't as elaborately decorated as the locked door from before, but little grooves in the door seem to form some kind of pattern, especially when the moonlight strikes them a different way. There is no handle on the door. I reach out my hand to push it open but it opens by itself. I hesitate, then walk in.

I have to gasp when I see its interior. Tiny, darting, flickering flames fill the room – row upon row, high up in the ribs and arches of the ceiling, in niches round the walls, in lines and patterns across the floor... a room of candles. I stare. Who has set them all out like this – who has set the room ablaze?

Entranced, I gaze at the candles for so long I don't see what is hanging from a gilt hook on the wall of the other side of the room, swinging slightly although there is no breeze, glinting faintly with the reflections of the candles. When I do see it, I don't quite believe I am. Surely, I think, surely they were all returned?

But no, my eyes do not deceive me; there it is, as gleaming and golden as ever it was when Elizabeth wore it around her neck like a medal; there it is, the pirate medallion of Aztec gold. I take a careful step toward it and suddenly the hundreds of flames all blaze threateningly, as though warning me away, but I am spellbound... I take another step and a roaring sound fills my ears, a deafening noise, yet I am sure nobody else would be able to hear it... it sounds like thousands of voices whispering in my ear in a tongue I can't understand... and they multiply and get louder and louder, until my head is swarming with them and I can't hear anything else. I clamp my hands over my ears but the voices still yell, all clamouring to send me some kind of message, but I can't understand... I can't take it. I run forward and grasp the medallion in my hand, and the voices stop, and the flames extinguish immediately, leaving me in utter darkness.

The medallion in my hand feels cold, yet burns my hand. I slip it into a pocket of my dress and feel my way to the door. It doesn't open, as I had expected it would. I push it, but it refuses to move. I give it an extra-hard shove, smashing my shoulder against the door, but it is as unmoveable as a block of iron.

Then a voice whispers again, like a leaf on a gust of wind. Other voices join in until a chorus chants in my ear: _Espaï cara manhoto espaïeth yachoto. _The words I cannot understand but the message is clear. They want me to leave the medallion. Cautiously, I remove it from my pocket and feel my way to the hook. The very second my hand leaves the icy metal, the candles light again, burning as brightly as before, as though they never went out.

The door opens for me and I leave, taking a last wistful glance back at the room of flame. Skull grinning, the medallion glints at me, just once, and the door closes firmly, leaving me in total obscurity, and seems to disappear. I shiver and turn away, not really knowing where I am going, enter the cabin, and run straight into Will.

"Catherine." He smiles down at me in the moonlight cast through the hatch. I can hear Sparrow's heavy breathing from behind. "Where have you been since yesterday?"

"I went up to the crow's nest," I say.

"What are you doing wandering around in the middle of the night?" he asks, but it is a question, not a reprimand.

"I couldn't sleep," I say. I consider telling him about the candle room, but it would probably be a bad idea, something that would remind him of Elizabeth and what state she could be in.

He nods serenely. "Me either." He continues to smile down at me with some look in his eyes that I can't quite find a name for.

There is a long silence. I have no idea what to say, so I say, "I found another room yesterday."

Will's smile breaks. "Did you?"

"Yes; it's down the other hatch, but it was locked," I say.

There is a pause, then Will shakes his head, as if he was about to say something but changed his mind at the last minute. "Why don't we go and see if we can get in?"

I nod, and we do.

* * *

You know what to do.....


	13. The Captain's Log

Hi guys! Sorry for the wait...

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It is a lot colder on deck than when I last was up there. I show Will the hatch and we climb down the ladder and stand in the little corridor before the door. Will reaches out a hand and traces one of the many twisting swirls crisscrossing the door. His hand reaches the keyhole, and pauses for a minute. He bends and examines the keyhole closely. I take a look as well.

"We're looking for an old key," I observe, "quite a big one, probably. The keyhole's battered; it looks like it's been used a lot."

"So an old, big, battered key?" Will asks from somewhere behind me.

"Yes," I call back.

"It won't be this one, then," Will says archly. I turn and look at the key he is holding. It is tiny; probably about three centimetres long, and silver, with elaborate swirls decorating the handle. There is a strange glow about it; not something you could see, rather something you could feel.

"We may as well try it," I shrug. Will places the key inside the huge keyhole and turns it. To my complete surprise, there is a small _click_ and the heavy door swings open. Will turns to me triumphantly, brandishing the key. I take it with a smile, and turn to look inside the room.

I wonder why a room like this was left locked when the mysterious candle room was open for anybody to walk into. The room is nothing special; just a bedchamber, probably a captain's, judging by the furnishings. There are few, but they are lavish. A locked gold-rimmed chest lies on the floor. A large cabinet occupies another corner, and a huge double bed, quilted in rich velvet of a deep red, sits below a small dais with large windows overlooking the sea, currently spilling moonlight into the room. All in all, the room is nothing special. It smells musty and damp. Will wrinkles his nose.

"Hardly worth the wait, was it?" he laughs, and yawns widely. "Do excuse me, Miss Costa; I have not had much sleep. I shall return to bed," and with that he leaves.

I find a candle and matches in a drawer of the cabinet and light the candle. I can't believe that this is all the room is: a long-forgotten bedchamber. I rake in another drawer of the cabinet; it is empty. All the other drawers are likewise. I try the little silver key in the chest, but it doesn't fit. I remember my little cluster of keys and try some of them. To my relief, one rather plain iron key opens the chest. I hold my breath as I delve inside, ready to retrieve secrets of the sea, but all I find is a dusty old book, about three inches wide, and with yellow, curling pages. I hurl the book onto the bed in disgust, and turn to go, but something makes me stop and pick it up. _Captain's Log_ is scrawled on the front in fading ink. I turn to the first page.

_Todaye we set out on our voyage, _it begins, with the minimal amount of spelling and grammar. I skim through paragraphs of the wind direction and mast types, eager to find something good, but turn the page to find more of the same. I flick further on, but still there is nothing interesting. I reach a page about halfway through the book and the writing trails to a halt. I read the second to last entry.

..._and although I have told him many times, he still seemes to Thinke that my daughter is alive and on this Isle. I replied to Him that even if this may be So, I shalle not go looking for Her. She was Taken from me by a Devil-Manne of the Navie thirteene yeares ago and I shalle not beg her back. She will be Poisoned by his Thinking. _

_Captaine Barbossa has Commanded that we put All the golde pieces back in the Chest so the Curse shalle be lifted. He Knowes we muste acte Quickly as the menne are chasinge us to Retrieve their Girle-friende. _

I emerge momentarily. This last paragraph sounds remarkably like the Curse of the Black Pearl. Barbossa... I am sure that was the name of the Black Pearl's captain after Sparrow was marooned. I wonder if the pirate who wrote this knew Pintel.

The last entry is messier, as though it has been written at high speed. It reads: _We have completed a Stage of our Planne. We have Stolen a piece of the treasure for, as Ragetti has tolde us that the Manne who stole my Daughter is Alive and Livinge in his Mansion in Port Royale, we shalle be Able to Kille him and all arounde him without having to fear of being deade, as cursed pirates cannot Die. When we reach Port Royale we shalle finde my daughter and take her Away from Him. Then she shall Saile with us over the Sea, and Norringtone will be deade! _

My blood runs cold. _Norrington._ I scrabble to find the date on the front of the diary. It is dated just under sixteen years back. That obviously means that whoever tried to kill Norrington failed, or never got the chance, as he is still alive. I relax for a moment, then I realise, and my heart beats faster than before. I look for the date on the second – last entry. Three years ago. The Curse of the Black Pearl... when I was about thirteen... three years ago! I look for the date on the last entry. It is dated two months ago. I feel sick.

Norrington has always told me my parents were hanged shortly after I was born, but he may have lied, and now I know he has. How many other pirates can there be whose daughter was taken from them by someone called Norrington in a place called Port Royale sixteen years ago? It can't be a coincidence. One or both of my parents is still alive.

However, this doesn't explain why my parents didn't take me away after the pirate raid on Port Royale. It's not as if no pirates saw me; those two spotted me when they carted off Elizabeth.

Wait... Elizabeth! They must have thought she was me! A big mansion in Port Royale... a young girl lying in its grounds... of course they thought she was me. But... they must have thought the Governor was Norrington, otherwise Norrington would be dead by now. Half of me wants to let my parents know where to find him. I don't know exactly how I feel about this. I hate him and he lied to me for sixteen years. But he did bring me up...

My mind is racing. I've always wanted to know my parents, and now I have a chance! But no... I am just tired and delirious. Any minute I shall awake in bed and this shall all have been a dream...

I have to know. I close the book slowly and hold the candle close to the leather jacket so I can make out the name inscribed on the front...

_John Costa.

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_

Review please... 


	14. Painful Questions

Hiya! Sorry for the wait, it's been a bit stressful over here, I'm in a play at the local theatre and we've been having rehearsals like every day. Anyhoo, enjoy and review please!

* * *

I scream and drop both the book and candle, which extinguishes immediately, but I do not care. My father! I cannot believe that my father is alive and well, and that we are on his ship, and heading to find him! I am going to meet my father, and perhaps my mother as well!

I have to sit down on the bed so I can think things through. My father… well, my father is a pirate, which is an obvious drawback, but I can live with it. My father stole Aztec gold from a pirate chest… ah. This means my father is a cursed pirate, but the curse has been lifted before, it can be lifted again. My father… my father thinks Elizabeth is me, which probably also means he thinks I am dead. Well, as soon as I turn up, we can clear that up…

Oh no. I cannot possibly meet my father without at the same time alerting Will to the fact that Elizabeth is dead, and it is not as if Will and Sparrow would let me visit a crew of pirates alone. I decide that some careful planning will have to be done on my part if I want to meet my father at last.

However, the sun is rising, and daylight is beginning to stream through the huge windows behind me. I cannot stay in here for too long, as Will and Sparrow would find it suspicious, and I decide not to show them the book and alert them to some potentially dangerous facts as yet. In due time, perhaps.

I rise from the bed and leave the room, being very careful to lock the door behind me. As I emerge from the hatch onto the deck, where I have to squint with the sudden light, Sparrow is striding towards me, looking concerned.

"You're up, then," he calls. I don't answer; there is no point in verifying the obvious. Sparrow comes over and stands next to me, doing that annoying trick of his where he talks to you but faces and looks in a completely different direction. "In that case, you can help the whelp and I. That commodore of yours is giving chase."

_Norrington! _I think, forgetting to remind Sparrow that Norrington is neither a commodore, nor _mine_. There is no way Norrington can follow us to find my father. He'd be sliced from head to toe before you could say 'you're under arrest for piracy on the high seas'.

I catch myself, wondering why I am so protective of Norrington suddenly. What does it matter to me if they chop him up? It doesn't, I remind myself. He lied to me. He lied for sixteen years. Let them carve him up and fry him for all I care.

I am interrupted from my thoughts by Sparrow prodding me and saying, "Are you going to stand there and dream all day?"

I glare at him and snatch a rope from the side of the ship, beginning to untie the main sail. I see Will over the other side of deck, hastily loosening the other sail ties. He sees me looking and smiles. I untie the last knot and the sail billows overhead, filling the sky. I don't realise what's wrong until I see Will staring up at the sail in horror. I look in the same direction and see the huge black sail flapping in the wind, an ivory-white skull-and-crossbones motif grinning down on us. Oh God. We've stolen a pirate ship.

Wait… something is badly wrong. The sails were definitely white when we stole the ship from Port Royale. Cursed treasure, old pirate books, changing sails… something very strange is going on around here.

Sparrow seems neither to notice nor care. From the helm he yells orders down to Will, who grabs me and runs beneath deck. He bashes the door to the gunpowder hold open and heaves two huge barrels of it up the stairs to the cannons. I grab another barrel and almost collapse under its weight. I just make it to the cannons when the ship gives a huge jolt and I am thrown back down the stairs, barrel crashing after me. I roll out of the way just in time to avoid becoming a crater in the floor and rush up to join Will, who is heaping handfuls of gunpowder into the cannons. He motions for me to help load the other cannons.

I open a cannon and throw a handful of the dirty powder into the cannon, telling myself I do not care if the cannonball hits Norrington's ship and causes him to sink. This is the man who made my life a misery for sixteen years. This is not the time to start becoming sentimental.

Will lights a cannon and it explodes with such force I am thrown backwards across deck. I pick myself up and set a match to another cannon. The cannonball soars into space in the opposite direction to Norrington's ship and lands harmlessly with a splash in the water around fifty metres away.

"Aim next time!" Sparrow roars from the helm. Another cannon booms, but I am prepared this time and I have seized the rail for support. Will's cannonball lands very close to the other ship.

I can see, indistinctly, Norrington prancing up and down on his ship, yelling and pointing over at us. I narrow my eyes and summon up all the hate I've ever felt for him, stuff some gunpowder in the cannon and light the fuse.

Will and Sparrow both cheer heartily as my cannonball hits Norrington's ship square in the side and creates a hole of considerable size. I smile quietly to myself as I hear Norrington screaming himself hoarse and blaming everyone else. Sparrow claps me on the back forcefully, and I am knocked forwards several feet. I force a laugh and retreat to the large bedchamber.

The book is lying on the bed where I left it. I open it, curious as to what other secrets it may hold, but my hands have barely touched the pages when there is a knock on the door. I jump and drop the book, hastily kicking it under the bed as the door opens.

I grin sheepishly as Will enters and gives me one of his heart-stopping smiles. "Well done," he says. "You knocked them right out of the water."

I smile and say, "Thank you," and he stands on the dais and looks out to sea. "Well done" was obviously not all he came in to say. He stays motionless for several minutes, then turns around, and says, unable to meet my eye, "Catherine, when… when the pirates took Elizabeth, did they… did you see them… well, you know, was she… was she alright?"

I flinch at the question, but I cannot tell him the truth. There is absolutely no way on this earth I can stand here and tell him his girlfriend is dead, or, worse, that I killed her. Just imagining the crushed, devastated look on his face is too painful... I have to lie, yet every word I say hurts more than if I were stabbing myself in the chest over and over.

"I… well, I didn't see that well, but I saw her… she was… she was alive; she was kicking and screaming as they carried her off… she was alright," I say quietly, expecting to see his face light up with that flicker of hope that news should bring him, but when he looks at me straight, he is fighting tears back as he chokes out, "But why didn't… why didn't you go after them? Why didn't you try and get her back?"

If he had ripped out my heart and kicked it across the floor, it could not possibly have hurt more than those two sentences. I struggle to speak; I look up at his face and I come so close to telling him… but I can't do it, I absolutely can't cause him any more pain than he is already feeling, so as the tears come rolling down my cheeks, I whisper to the floor, "I don't know. I'm sorry," but he has already begun to walk away and he leaves the room and slams the door.

I throw myself onto the bed and cry for minutes before I can sit up and attempt to think straight again. I hate myself; I utterly despise and detest every particle of my being for this. And to think that the morning they found me, I sat there and looked into his eyes and I thought everything would be alright; I actually thought that even after Will discovered the truth, he would find it in his heart to forgive me; and I really believed, right then, I really believed there was a possibility he would turn around and say, "I love you," even after he found out! Why was I so stupid? Oh, why, why, why?

"You foolish, foolish girl," I scold myself, still crying hard and hiccoughing with tears. "How could you ever think everything would be alright? How could you ever think Will could love you? For God's sake, you're so stupid! Why would he ever love you? You killed his girlfriend!" A fresh wave of tears bursts out as I say that, but I continue. I deserve this. "That's right! And no matter how much you avoid it and run away from it, it's still true, god damn it, Catherine! _You killed Elizabeth!_"

I hear a noise behind me and I stand up, feeling utterly sick. No. No. There is no way anyone can hear what I just said. But someone has, and I turn to see Sparrow standing in the doorway, looking completely and totally stunned.

* * *

Oh dear. Review or you will never find out what happens....


	15. The Isla de Muerta Revisited

Hey everyone! Thankee much for the fabuloso reviews!! Sorry it took ages, but they should come faster now the play's over (it was fabbo if you're interested).

Thanks be to:

**piratetomboy:** Thank you soo much for your lurvely reviews! Keep 'em coming, they make my day!

**Carn: **Wimpish? _Wimpish???_ However, turns out I rather agree, so hope this is better, there's a nice little wrestle with Sparrow in this chap. But anyhoo, Tempest...weren't we fab? Turns out Dad only taped the scenes I was in (I think) but I'll get him to DVD them and I'll bring them to drama on Freitag, savvy? Shame he wasn't there on Wed, or he could have seen the "Lend thy hand" and the boat collapse!!

* * *

Sparrow and I stare at each other in horror for several seconds before he comes to his senses, whirls around, and bolts up the stairs. "Sparrow!" I scream after him. I sprint out of the room, dash up the hatch, and tackle him to the ground as he heads for the stairs down to Will's chamber. I grab him and pin him down as he struggles.

"Let – go!" he pants, trying to make me release him.

"No," I reply, and grab his face in my hands and wrench it up to mine. "Listen to me – listen to me!" I hiss. "There is no way you can tell Will. There is absolutely no way."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," he responds, wriggling, so I drop his head and hold his arms to the floor.

"Because if you tell him – _hold still!_ – if you tell him you are guaranteed to totally crush him; if you tell him you may as well just stick your sword through his brain and pull it out; the truth will kill him – do you want that?"

Sparrow falls still. I release his arms slowly, hoping against hope he won't make a bolt for Will's chamber and blurt everything out. "No," he sighs deeply. "No, I don't want that. But what is going to happen when he finds out?"

I drop my head into my hands. "I don't even want to think about that."

"You can't pretend it's not going to happen," he says. "Someday he's going to find out what really happened."

I am silent. "Oh, I see," Sparrow says nastily. "You're hoping that we're going to find Elizabeth in the middle of a circle of pirates with a sword through her stomach and then you can pretend the pirates did it."

"No!" I snap, but I blush, revealing the truth. Sparrow sits up, looking triumphant. "You were going to present Will to his dead girlfriend – _who you killed – _and hope he was going to turn around in need of a shoulder to cry on, and then you could –"

"Look, the thing you have to understand," I interrupt desperately, "is that I did not kill Elizabeth."

"You did! I just heard you saying it!" Sparrow replies.

"Shh! It was an accident! I was… sort of fighting with her, and she slipped and fell from her balcony."

Sparrow regards me for a minute, and then says, "And you expect me to believe that."

"Yes! Because it's the truth!"

He looks at me suspiciously. "I can tell I'm going to have to watch my back from now on with you on board."

"Please!" I almost shout. "It was an accident, I swear. And you have no idea," I pause, "you have absolutely no idea how much I wish it hadn't happened."

He is silent. I stand up so he can move. He pulls himself up, seeming to be considering something.

"All right," he says finally. "I won't tell the whelp your little secret. But if anything happens – _anything –_ which makes me think we can't trust you, I won't give you a second chance." He raises his pistol to my temple to underline the point. "I've grown quite fond of the boy over these few years and I wouldn't like to see him hurt. Just remember that I'm watching you from now on." He lowers the gun and walks away, then climbs down the hatch.

I sigh and walk to the rail of the ship. My life just seems to get more and more complicated by the minute. I stare, unseeing, out over the waters, where a mist is steadily gathering in a dark cove. Dark, overhanging cliffs loom before the ship. The silence is tangible. The waters beneath us, which have darkened to a black-blue, make the only sound as they splash gently along the ship. The musty smell of damp reaches my nostrils, along with another smell – a vile, rancid smell, just like rotting flesh.

Oh no.

As the ship comes closer to the cliffs I can see many spears protruding from the walls. This rings a very nasty bell in my head. I remember the black ship with the Governor's corpse. I suspect we have just found the place where that ship may dock.

"Sparrow!" I hiss. There is nobody around but I do not want to draw attention to myself anyway. "Sparrow!"

Sparrow emerges from the cabin. "What?"

"Land!"

As he climbs up the ladder and sees where we have come to, he blanches slightly. "I did not direct the ship here."

"Sparrow, it's a pirate ship, it's probably cursed or something. I bet it found its own way."

"We have to get out of here," he says, and rushes to the helm.

"But –" I start. I cannot tell him why I need to go on that island – to find my father. If his boat directed us here, surely it directed us to him?

"Don't argue, Miss Costa, unless you want to end up as a human kebab!" he says dangerously, indicating the spears. I decide not to push my luck.

"What the hell –" Sparrow is spinning the helm, but the boat is not turning at all – it is almost as if it is deciding where we go now, not us. "We're going to have to abandon ship," he announces, but on closer inspection the boat has no escape lines or boats. We have no choice but to let it take us to the island. Sparrow swears loudly and loads his pistol.

As the boat draws closer to shore, it slows, and soon stops adjacent to the beach of black sand. Sparrow and I stand for several moments, staring out at the island.

"We're going to have to go ashore, aren't we?" I say. Sparrow nods.

"I really don't want to, but I don't see how we can prevent it from happening," he replies gravely. At that moment Will emerges from below deck with a sword, avoiding my eye. He sees the island and looks fearfully at Sparrow.

"Is it -?"

"The very place," Sparrow nods. I get the idea they have been here before, probably during the curse of the Black Pearl era. Will stares back at the island for a few seconds.

"We must go ashore to save Elizabeth!" he says. I feel a dull pain in my stomach. Sparrow looks at me very pointedly, but thankfully says nothing. Will is suspicious of our hesitation. "Come on!" he says.

"I don't really think –" I begin, as Sparrow seems to have decided to refrain from speaking ever again, but Will interrupts me savagely, staring me right in the eyes.

"What _you think_, Miss Costa, does not signify any more, I am afraid. You are the reason Elizabeth is here; _you_ left her to the pirates when you were too busy thinking of yourself, and if you have any scruples about going ashore, fine. Stay on board. But Jack and I are going ashore to save Elizabeth, whether or not you deign to come."

I stare at him. He has never, ever spoken to me like that before. He holds my gaze for a few more seconds and then leaps down from the ship, landing softly on the sand below. Sparrow follows him, and I do likewise, thinking it unwise to stay on board alone.

Will heads boldly forward into a dank, gloomy cave, flooded with water, Sparrow at his side, and I follow close behind. Will strides along the bank for as long as the water will let him, but soon the path narrows and the way is blocked with water. A slim canoe lies on the bank, obviously waiting for us. I get an ominous feeling that heightens when Will climbs into the canoe, but Sparrow hesitates.

"There's only room for two in that thing, 'less it capsizes," he says.

Will looks at him as though completely unaware of the problem. "Your point?"

They both glance at me. I look from one to the other and say, "Never mind me, I'll just wait here until you get back," not without sarcasm, but Will accepts this answer and motions for Sparrow to climb in the boat, which he does. As they paddle off into the gloom, Sparrow shoots a worried glance back, but I hear Will say audibly, "Don't worry about her; nothing will happen, and if it does…" The words 'oh well' hang in the air; he didn't say them, but we all know he's thinking them.

I watch until the canoe disappears completely from sight, then I kick the wall angrily. The sound echoes around the walls of the cavern. I pace up and down aimlessly, stopping every now and then to enjoy the echoes that make it sound as though fifty other people are pacing even after I stop. I put my foot down as slowly as possible to see if it still echoes. Yes; it makes a sound not unlike people walking slowly. Creeping. How odd. I lift my foot off the floor, but the echoes continue. I am not making this noise. There must be other people in the cave. I spin around but nobody is there. I am just getting paranoid. I breathe out. I am just beginning to relax when a hand grabs my shoulder and a deep voice whispers in my ear, "All alone, little girl?"

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Ooh, yet another cliffhanger. It's like reading a book in the Himalayas. Review please!!!


	16. Captain Costa

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews!!

**Carn: **Wrestling with Sparrow, man that was a drag to write. Glad you liked.

**Arein: **Woah, that's a lot of questions! The answer to most of them is "I can't tell you, it'll ruin the story". I can, however, tell you that we're getting quite close to the end... sob! Thanks for reviewing!

**SwordSwallower17: **Thanks - but Elizabeth won't be too out of character any more, as she's...er...dead.

**American Drama: **Where'd you go? Did you have fun? Thank you for the review!! Hope you like this chapter!

LAST TIME ON CATHERINE COSTA, PIRATE'S DAUGHTER...

_I watch until the canoe disappears completely from sight, then I kick the wall angrily. The sound echoes around the walls of the cavern. I pace up and down aimlessly, stopping every now and then to enjoy the echoes that make it sound as though fifty other people are pacing even after I stop. I put my foot down as slowly as possible to see if it still echoes. Yes; it makes a sound not unlike people walking slowly. Creeping. How odd. I lift my foot off the floor, but the echoes continue. I am not making this noise. There must be other people in the cave. I spin around but nobody is there. I am just getting paranoid. I breathe out. I am just beginning to relax when a hand grabs my shoulder and a deep voice whispers in my ear, "All alone, little girl?"_

* * *

I try to scream, but someone has clamped their hand over my mouth. I struggle and flail wildly, lashing out with my arms and kicking everything within reach. I hear a man grunt and double up in pain, which I hope I am the cause of. I struggle to escape but I only succeed in gaining several other people to hold me. My capturer, obviously growing tired of the whole charade, motions for the other men to let go. As they do, I wriggle to get free, but freeze when whoever is restraining me holds a pistol to my temple.

I am released, but make no move to attempt an escape, having no desire for a hole through my head, and, subsequently, a spear through my heart. The hand muting me, however, remains firmly in place. It is grimy and dirty. I keep my mouth firmly closed. One of the men lights up a torch and my attackers come into view. I catch sight of the man I kicked. He is tall and lanky, and is scratching his eye feverishly. He removes his hand for a split second and I catch a glimpse of nothing but an empty socket where the eye should be; then, to my utter disgust, the man produces a glass eyeball and inserts it into the socket.

Whoever is holding me removes their hand and ties a dirty rag in my mouth in place of it. I scream indistinctly and try to rip it out, but someone has bound my hands behind my back and I cannot move them. The person behind me gives me a violent shove and I obediently begin to walk forwards, behind the other pirates who have formed a procession-like line. I feel vaguely frightened, but I can't get too afraid because every step we walk, I think, brings us one step closer to my father!

After a few minutes of walking we come to a large, cavernous part of the cave, really just several islands protruding from a lake. One mound is higher than all the rest and a large chest stands at pride of place atop it, flanked by a tall man, around forty years of age, wearing a large, wide-brimmed hat, and holding a huge, bloodstained sword. He is obviously some kind of leader as all the other pirates look up to him in awe. As we enter, a silence falls, and all eyes turn to me. I glower back at them, then, to my utter surprise, spot a familiar face in the crowd of pirates.

"Pintel!" I try to say, but am muffled by the rag. What is Norrington's cook doing here? Was he part of some plan to get me here? Does he know my father? The questions swarm round my head like angry bees. Nobody has heard me speak; they have all turned their eyes to the tall man on the mound, who looks down at whoever is holding me and asks, in a light, jocular voice, "Who is the girl?"

A deep Jamaican voice erupts from behind me. "She was trespassing in the cave."

The man on the mound barely glances at me before saying, "Kill her."

"No!" I shout. The word is muffled by the cloth but the meaning is clear. The man turns back to face me, eyebrows raised sardonically.

"Oh?" he says. "Bo'sun, untie her. This could be interesting." Catcalls and jeers erupt from the pirates at his words. I glare at everyone in sight, but am determined not to show any sign of fear. Soon enough my father will arrive and show them who's boss.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" the man calls. I keep my mouth shut, chin thrust up defiantly. I will not give them the satisfaction of an answer.

"I said, what are you doing here?" he repeats dangerously. I say nothing. "Lost your tongue, have you? Well, let me give you a little encouragement." He loads a pistol and points it at my face. "Now I repeat. What are you doing here?" His face darkens as a thought occurs to him. "You're not from Port Royale, are you? You wouldn't happen to know anything about that damn fool Norrington?"

I forget, and open my mouth, about to tell them, then I remember, and shut it abruptly. The man sees the giveaway. He leaps from the mound, spraying gold coins everywhere, and lands deftly on the floor. He walks slowly towards me, never moving the pistol from its aim at my head.

"You know Norrington?" he asks again. I keep silent. "Answer me, girl!" he roars suddenly, lunging towards me so suddenly that I leap backwards. I shake my head vigorously. He narrows his eyes at me. "I don't have time for this. Tell me where Norrington is so I can go and kill him and be done with it. Damn fool man killed my daughter, as good as." He turns away for a moment and begins to walk back towards the mound.

"Do I kill the girl, Captain Costa?" Bo'sun says unsurely from behind me, and I realise. Captain Costa! That man is my father! He thinks I am dead!

"Your daughter's not dead!" I shout. I feel the faces of all the assembled pirates turn to me. My father stops in his tracks and wheels around slowly. "And how would you know that?" he says in a dangerously low voice.

"Because I'm your daughter," I say. A confused noise comes from the pirates. This logic is probably too hard for their collective brain cell.

The captain looks at me in a strange way. "My daughter is dead. My men brought her to me. Norrington killed her. They saw it happen."

"No, no, no!" I reply. "She's not your daughter. That's Elizabeth Swann. Norrington didn't kill her, she –" I pause here, then continue: "well, I did. I saw pirates carry her away, but they got the wrong girl, I'm her, I'm your daughter! I'm Catherine Costa!"

There is a huge silence. My father looks at me for several long seconds that feel like hours. "Catherine Costa." He repeats my name slowly, trying it out. "My daughter." There is a long pause. "My daughter," he repeats. "Norrington took you from me sixteen long years ago, and I have been haunted ever since by –" he pauses, then changes. "You shall join us on our ship. We will sail over the seas together. What say you?"

I am silent for a moment. My father and I, sailing the sea… it is almost too good to be true, and something holds me back. I am not sure why, but some sense is telling me that he is not all he seems, be careful…

But another voice argues, So what? I tried being careful and it got me nowhere. There is nothing for me at Port Royale. I hate Norrington. Will hates me. There is nowhere for me to go. I have no home. Why not?

So I throw caution to the winds and respond with, "I say aye!"

"Aye!" chorus the pirates, and a thousand Ayes echo from the ceiling. I smile. Catherine Costa, pirate's daughter, sailing the seven seas with her father and a merry band of men. Well, the men may not be merry, but it's good enough for me, I think as cheers fill the room.

Then something horrible happens that makes me feel sick.

Bo'sun removes himself from behind me and I see the tall Jamaican man striding toward the chest on the mound. He veers around it and picks something up from behind it. As he throws it over his shoulder I recognise it as the limp dead body of Elizabeth.

The pirates cheer as Bo'sun holds it up to them like a hunting trophy. Then he lifts a spear from the ground and holds it to the sky. More raucous cheers from the pirates.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, I think. I cannot watch. I know what will happen next. I cover my eyes, but I cannot block out the sickening sound of flesh being pierced, and the roar from the crowd. When I dare to look, poor Elizabeth is impaled on the spear, and the spear flung into the crowd of pirates, where they bear down on her like vultures.

I turn away. I cannot watch. My father is watching the pirates with amusement. I open my mouth to reprove him about laughing at a corpse being ripped apart, but before I can, an almighty roar erupts from the other side of the cave. I spin around to see a river of red-coated men brandishing swords and bellowing, Norrington in the lead, Will and Sparrow at his side.

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Dun dun dun... reviews will be gladly appreciated. Be nice, it's nearly the end! 


	17. Truth Hurts

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews!

Christmas is a-coming and so is the end of the story... there's only 1 chapter left (this one) and the epilogue, which I will post tomorrow (Christmas Eve!!)

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful support throughout - special mentions goto Arein, who has been reviewing since the beginning, she's such a sweetie, and Carn, who _always_ reads and reviews nicelyeverything I do, bless 'er, and who is also a sweetie, but will probably kill me for saying so. But thanks to ALL of you - you're fab!!!

**REVIEW REPLIES FOR CHAP. 16:**

**Carn: **Last chapter with Jack - enjoy!! Whoops, shouldn't have said that, nearly gave the game away...

**colecole345:**Unfortunately, we're so close to the end... but here's the next chapter, absolutely jam-packed with action and drama! (Wow, that sounded good!) Thanks for reviewing!

**pirate tomboy:** I'm sorry to say that I think this chapter might upset you even more... lots of tears...poor everyone, even someone in this chapter I didn't think I'd ever feel sorry for... but still, thanks!!

**Arein: **The answers to questions 1,2 and 4 are revealed in this chapter, questions 5 is "I don't know, depends what you ask," question 6: Yes, because here's the update...but question 3, "Will Will ever forgive her?".... well, I can't say...you're going to have to wait and see, especially after the end of this chapter... anyway, thanks for all your lovely reviews!

So, in summary: This last chapter. Epilogue up tomorrow. Thanks and enjoy!!

Luv J-b xxxx

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_Last time on Catherine Costa, Pirate's Daughter:_

_Bo'sun removes himself from behind me and I see the tall Jamaican man striding toward the chest on the mound. He veers around it and picks something up from behind it. As he throws it over his shoulder I recognise it as the limp dead body of Elizabeth. The pirates cheer as Bo'sun holds it up to them like a hunting trophy. Then he lifts a spear from the ground and holds it to the sky. More raucous cheers from the pirates. Oh no, oh no, oh no, I think. I cannot watch. I know what will happen next. I cover my eyes, but I cannot block out the sickening sound of flesh being pierced, and the roar from the crowd. When I dare to look, poor Elizabeth is impaled on the spear, and the spear flung into the crowd of pirates, where they bear down on her like vultures. I turn away. I cannot watch. My father is watching the pirates with amusement. I open my mouth to reprove him about laughing at a corpse being ripped apart, but before I can, an almighty roar erupts from the other side of the cave. I spin around to see a river of red-coated men brandishing swords and bellowing, Norrington in the lead, Will and Sparrow at his side._

"Norrington, no!" I scream, but he takes no notice, and the army in red floods down into the cavern, swords raised, ready to rip the pirates apart. But the pirates are ready fighters and are waiting for them. Blades clash and the metallic sound of steel on steel fills the room. I see Will knocking pirates to the ground and heading for me. I see Sparrow involved in a fast-paced duel with a pirate with dreadlocks. Pintel and the lanky pirate with the glass eye intercept Will and attempt to put a sword through him.

My father put a protective hand around my shoulders when Norrington's men entered and now he pushes me behind him as Norrington himself approaches, head high, face set. I come out from behind my father. "Norrington, get out of here now!" I shriek urgently. Norrington ignores me and draws his sword. My father laughs and draws his pistol. I see Norrington blanch but he does not move a muscle.

"Lay down your weapon!" he bellows. "I've come for Catherine!"

"You," my father mocks. "You crawling, worthless, sleazy, cowardly piece of filth. You took my daughter from me and now you are going to pay for it. Perhaps I'll keep your head as a memento. I know it's worthless, but what can you do?"

Norrington glares at him. "I took your daughter from you," he replies quietly, "because you killed her mother, and you were all set to do the same to her."

"Liar," my father sneers. "You thought you'd come in with your toy soldiers with their little swords and their pretty red coats and shoot us dead, and now that plan's down the drain you're feeding my daughter some damnfool story that you were the gallant hero who saved her after I killed her mother. And so what if I did? The stupid girl deserved what she got. And then you took my daughter, that's all there is to it. You took her and you tortured her for sixteen years by keeping her with you when what she needed was a father. I think it's time for retribution."

He raises his pistol, but before anyone can move, I dart in front of Norrington, blocking the aim.

"Move out of the way," my father snaps impatiently. "Let the rat get what he deserves."

"Maybe Norrington did take me from you," I say, unable to prevent fury spilling into every syllable, "but he has been a better father than you could ever hope to be. I – I met you five minutes ago, if that, and you are already treating me like your property. My daughter, my daughter, never calling me by my name, never Catherine. I doubt you even remembered what my name was." My father's face is darkening, contorting with fury. I bet nobody has ever spoken to him like this before. "So Norrington and I have had arguments," I continue, enraged. "So what? He would never, ever kill the mother of his child, nor – nor come into Port Royale, kill a whole load of innocent people and then stick them on spears like kebabs; like life and death is just some kind of game. And even if it is, let me tell you something – you lose."

I lunge forward, ready to push him back off the mound and into the deep water beneath, but he reaches out a hand and pushes me to the floor. As I try to recover myself, I hear the unmistakeable sound of a pistol being fired and a body falling to the floor.

"No!" I scream. I turn around to see Norrington sprawled on the floor in a pool of scarlet blood that steadily spreads through the sand around him. I rush towards him but my father is bearing down on me fast, pistol aimed at my temple.

"Perhaps having a daughter is not all it's cracked up to be," he spits, and pulls the trigger.

I close my eyes and wait for the bullet to come, but it doesn't, and all I hear is a yell of hatred. I open my eyes to see my father cursing and reloading his pistol, then something barrels up the mound from the right and smacks into my father, sending him flying. I turn to Norrington. His eyes are closed. A trickle of blood runs down his face from his mouth.

"Norrington," I whisper. Tears dribble from my eyelids and land on his face. "Norrington!"

His eyes flicker open a fraction, and he struggles to focus. "Catherine?" he croaks.

"I'm so sorry," I cry. "I'm so sorry."

"No," he replies. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me," and his eyes close and he is gone.

I turn away helplessly, and I see the thing that knocked my father down was Will. He has knocked my father's pistol down and now is sword-fighting with him furiously. Sparrow appears out of nowhere and grabs my arm. "Get out of here," he hisses urgently. "You've got to get out of here before you get yourself killed."

"I don't care," I begin to say, but I hear a yell from my father and spin around to see that Will has knocked him to the ground and is pointing his own pistol at him.

"Will, no!" I shout. I run over to them. "Will, don't shoot!"

He doesn't take his eyes off my father, sprawling on the floor. "I don't see why I shouldn't. He was all set to shoot you."

"That doesn't make it alright," I try to reason with him, but my father interrupts.

"Get on with it and pull the trigger, boy," he snarls.

Will hesitates. My father's eyes light up.

"I knew you didn't have it in you, Turner. And to hear the voice of reason coming from my murdering daughter!"

I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach. Will glances at me. "She's not a murderer like you are."

"Ah, if only you knew," my father laughs nastily. "Poor old Elizabeth. Take a look over there if you don't believe me."

Will turns slowly. My father takes his chance and turns tail, running for his life, never to show again. I look at Will. His eyes lock on Elizabeth's body lying prone on the floor. He stares for several long moments, and then turns to me. His voice is hoarse as he whispers, "Please tell me this isn't true."

I say nothing. I can't say anything. Like my father, I turn tail and run out of the cavern, leaving the battling pirates and redcoats and Will and Sparrow and Elizabeth far behind. I run out of the cave into the cold light of the moon, and I run the length of the island, running and running because I never want to be seen again. I just want to lie down and stay there in the cold of the night until I die.

Eventually land runs out and I am on the beach, staring out to sea. I don't know how long I stand there, without feeling, without thought, without anything but the bitter wind whipping at my face and hair. And it isn't until I look up at the silver moon reflected in the jet black waves that I remember today is my sixteenth birthday.


	18. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

Catherine sighed as the memory of the last night she'd seen Will entered her head. She missed him so much, and it was all because of a stupid mistake. Still, she'd better get going before someone came into the workshop and caught her trespassing.

It was too late. There were footsteps behind her. She didn't move. She knew who it would be.

"You came back," he said. She nodded, then turned so she was looking him straight in the eyes. How she'd missed those eyes! So deep, so wonderful…

"I had to. There was something I…" She broke off, unable to finish. He saw the note she'd put on the anvil, picked it up, and read it. As he reached the last line he paused and looked at Catherine.

"I just wanted… I needed to tell you how sorry I am for everything that happened, and I wanted…" she paused, "I just wanted to tell you that… well, that I love you." She turned away, flinching, ready for his derisive laugh, or for him to strike her for killing his girlfriend so long ago.

But Will gently caught her shoulder, and turned her to face him, and met her eyes, and they stayed that way, just looking at each other, for who knows how long. Then Will dropped the note, took her face in his hands, and kissed her, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world, and Catherine felt so happy that nothing else mattered… but then he broke away and she looked up to him and said, "I'm sorry."

He brushed the apology aside. "It only matters that you're here now." And he took her by the hand and they left the old blacksmith's behind, and with Sparrow at their side they boarded the Pearl together and sailed the seas together, and as they held on to each other tight, it felt as though they would never let go.

**THE END**

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Oh my God, I can't believe it's the end! Thank you guys all so much for reading! 

HUGE thankyous to:

**fredthebaker, ****maz, ****Arein, ****Westbabe, ****Carn, ****American Drama, ****rose-eye-blonde91, ****ilfirin912, ****Alexi, ****candy depp sumpter, ****Ellmarr, ****piratetomboy, ****colecole345**

You have been fantastic!! Thank you very much for all the lovely reviews!!!

And I have to do it... if you liked this, try Einëssa Moondance, which is also by me. Also I think I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter so I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. There we go!

Thanks again guys!

Luv -

Jelli-baby

xxx


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